Yellowwoods and Hollard invest a further R30m in Naked

The IA-driven car insurance provider’s strong first six months of trading have encouraged its founder investors to plough more money into the company to enable it to expand into new short-term insurance product categories.

Naked uses AI and automation to lower costs, put customers in control of their insurance experience, reduce fraud and enhance insurance as a social good. Customers can go online and get a final car insurance quote in less than 90 seconds without speaking to a contact centre agent.

“We are proud to receive this vote of confidence from our investors and look forward to rolling out new products in response to customer demand,” said Naked co-founder Alex Thomson. “We’re delighted by the response our insurance offering has received from the market.”

Naked’s lower sales and servicing cots enable it to offer lower premiums to customers. Customers can use the Naked mobile app to manage their policies and claim after an incident. The app includes functionality such as Naked CoverPause, which allows customers the ability to pause their accident cover if the car won’t be used for a day or more, instantly reducing the premium for that time. Naked uses AI to pay valid claims quickly and repudiate fraudulent or invalid claims.

“We are proud investors in Naked because we embrace innovation that delivers and improved customer experience and enhances fairness for policyholders,” said Nic Kohler, head of insurance at Yellowwoods. “Its strong performance over the past six months validates its business model, giving us confidence in its ability to drive further growth and innovation in the months to come.”